This invention relates to digital video signal reproducing apparatus and, more particularly, to such apparatus which is capable of reproducing digital video signals at a high speed, thereby providing a high speed play mode, from which a natural looking image may be displayed.
Both analog and digital video recorders are known to record a frame of video signals in a plurality of slant tracks on a magnetic tape. For example, in an analog 8 mm video recorder, one video frame is recorded in two tracks. In a digital video recorder of the type known as the D-2 format, one frame of digital video signals is recorded in 12 slant tracks. Still further, a digital video recorder for consumer use has been proposed, wherein one frame of an NTSC video signal is digitized and recorded in 10 tracks and one frame of a PAL video signal is digitized and recorded in 12 tracks.
In analog and digital video playback devices, such as a video recorder exhibiting a reproducing mode, the previously recorded video signals may be reproduced in both a "normal" playback mode and in "special" playback modes. In the normal mode, the video tape is transported at a playback speed substantially equal to the speed at which it was driven during a recording operation and, as a result, the heads scan traces which substantially coincide with the previously recorded tracks. However, in a special playback mode, such as in a high speed playback mode, the tape is transported at a much higher speed than the speed at which it was driven during a recording operation and, consequently, each head of the video recorder then scans a portion of each of several tracks. Hence, the resultant image which is reproduced from the data recovered from portions of respective tracks appears as a synthesized display which is perceived as an unnatural image which may be difficult to view.